Reverie
by Bunny on the Moon
Summary: COMPLETE, Darkrai x Cresselia. What lies in the dreams of those who create them?
1. New Moon

_i think of you and i see me  
__i'm the one i thought i'd never be  
__i feel dirty - no purity  
__desire and yearning in your heart  
__no mercy for you, no mercy for me_

* * *

_He floats in what seems to be an endless sea of darkness; the only sources of light are the countless stars peppering the sky around him._

_Everything is deathly silent, and yet, it's not a tense silence. It's more like the serene kind of silence that one would encounter on a warm midsummer's night - the kind of tranquility that can lull them into a gentle slumber that one would never want to awaken from._

_It's the kind of silence that __**she**__ would generate._

_He isn't quite sure where he is; this place is nothing like he's ever seen before, except for the realm of dreams that he frequently inhabited. Is he dreaming? Is he awake? He doesn't know. He just gazes up into the void above, an odd sense of peace overcoming him. He stays there and closes his eyes, basking in the stillness for an immeasurable length of time - the opportunity to relax in this manner comes so rarely to him that he takes full advantage of it whenever possible._

_Eventually, his eyes open again and he surveys the landscape again. The stars beneath him have disappeared, leaving an infinite expanse of blackness in their place. Now, instead of floating through the depths of space like he seemed to be doing before, he gazes up at a star-filled sky that melds with the darkness below, obscuring its horizon from view._

_The night sky is one of his favorite things, but something appears to be missing from it tonight..._

_The moon._

_He is confused; the last time he saw the moon, it was at its first quarter. It wouldn't be time for him to set out to cast nightmares on humanity for quite a while yet. So, where has the moon gone?_

_For reasons unbeknownst to him, he finally moves from his spot in search of it. No matter how fast or slow he hovers, the stars above him fail to change their position. He starts to wonder if he's even moving at all, when suddenly, something comes into view in the distance. As he draws closer to it, he quickens his pace, his own curiosity taking control of his actions. And once he realizes just what it is, he stops short._

_It's __**her**__: his opposite, his counterpart, his moon; the dream to his nightmare, the light to his darkness._

_She hovers in front of him, eyes cast to the same sky he had been gazing at before. Her body is engulfed in a golden glow, and she doesn't seem to have a care in the world - is she the one exuding the feelings of serenity that had been washing over him this whole time?_

_He slowly approaches her, making not even the slightest sound - he doesn't want to disturb the silence. As he closes the distance between them, she turns her gaze down towards him, locking her fuchsia eyes with his._

_And suddenly, the peace that had overwhelmed him before is replaced by fear._

_His cyan eyes bore deeply into hers as if he were being pulled in by gravity. There's something about the gentleness lying within her magenta depths that tugs at his heartstrings, and to be quite honest, it terrifies him. As someone who is so adept at striking fear into the hearts of others, he finds himself completely disarmed by how __**scared**__ he is at the moment. Why is he feeling like this? If anything, __**she**__ should be the one scared of __**him**__, not the other way around. But the more he searches her eyes, the less fear he uncovers; he finds kindness and acceptance and hope; he finds tenderness and benevolence; he finds - dare he think it? - affection._

_They say that people are afraid of things that they don't understand. They're afraid __**because**__ they don't understand them; he knows the concept of fear like the back of his hand, so for him to actually become afraid of something is quite the amazing feat. But he knows exactly why he's scared: he doesn't understand kindness or acceptance or hope; he doesn't understand tenderness or benevolence; he doesn't understand..._

_She smiles - a beautiful sight, moreso than the boundless sky above them - and his heart begins to quake with terror._

_The moon turns away again and closes her eyes, and the glow surrounding her body begins to intensify. He squints, unaccustomed to the light emanating from her body; before long, it's as bright as the sun and everything around them inverts: the darkness becomes a blinding white, and the now-black stars in the sky fall below them as if they're in a reverse dimension of sorts._

_He blinks several times in a desperate attempt to clear his vision. However, once he can finally see properly again, he almost wishes he __**couldn't**__._

_Her eyes are still closed and she is no longer glowing. Her hover falters for a few seconds, and then she starts to fall._

_The fear returns, tenfold this time; his throat constricts painfully as he watches her plummet toward the dark stars beneath them. If one could even call them stars anymore - they're pulsating now, expanding themselves into what seems to be an abyss of sorts; they reach up with black tentacles that are just waiting to catch her, to drag her down into the deep darkness._

_He panics. She shouldn't be sucked into the darkness, she's the __**last**__ being in the universe that deserves such a fate! Her heart is so strong and so pure that it's almost as if light itself would be torn from the world if she were to succumb like this. Although he'd been frightened, he'd seen into her soul only moments ago - he'd felt her heart._

_And now, the thought that he could lose her to the darkness all but paralyzes him._

_Finally, he overcomes his numbness and takes off after her. Just like before, it feels as if he isn't moving at all, no matter how desperately he might try to catch up to her. He futilely reaches out with a clawed arm, stretching out as far as he can in a vain attempt to grab onto her, even though the distance between them is so great._

_At the same time, the nothingness below them continues to reach up to intercept her, and for a moment, it seems like it's going to win. Anguished tears fall from his eyes as he continues chasing, chasing, __**chasing**__ after her - he can't let her fall, he __**won't**__ let her fall; he wills for her to wake up and save herself just in case he is unable to. And that scenario begins to look more and more likely as the black tendrils wrap around her body, caressing her in a manner that only adds rage to his fear and desperation..._

Darkrai awakened with a start. It took him several moments to realize that he was no longer chasing after his counterpart through an endless area of white, and was now resting within the depths of his own island.

It also took a second for him to notice that his heart was pounding frantically, and his brow was dotted with sweat. It had only been a dream - or in his case, a nightmare. Heaving an immense sigh of relief, he floated over to the shallow puddle that lay in the heart of the island and reached down into it, splashing water onto his face.

Truth be told, he didn't even remember falling asleep. As he attempted to bring himself back into reality, he mused upon this a bit: even he wasn't immune to his own abilities, and as a result, he didn't really sleep much. He was a god, he didn't exactly _need_ sleep in order to function properly, so he usually tried to avoid it if at all possible, if only because his dreams were like the one he'd just awakened from.

There had to be some kind of meaning behind that nightmare, but he couldn't figure out what it was. It had painted such a vivid picture in his head and he remembered every single detail - the stars, the peace, searching for the moon, _finding_ it. Locking eyes with Cresselia and feeling her spirit, and the fear that had pulsated through his veins as a result of it. The smile. The glow. Whiteness, falling, _chasing_, abyss.

His heart started to race again just thinking about it. In the several hundred years that he'd been in existence, he couldn't _ever_ remember being as frightened as he had been in this dream. What was it that had horrified him so? Was it seeing the gentleness reflected within Cresselia's soul, or the fact that it had been directed toward him? Or was it... the feeling that had welled up within him as a result? Somehow, the idea of being accepted by her seemed to comfort him a bit, and only then did he realize what he was truly scared of.

Darkrai was afraid of losing her. The sense of peace that had overcome him in the beginning of the dream had surely been generated by her, and only when he was faced with the prospect of losing that peace, did fear begin to overtake him. Even now, when he was fully awake and back in the real world, the idea terrified him.

He still didn't know what that meant, though. He had no idea what would happen to him if she were to fall off of the mortal coil, or what would happen to humanity or even the universe as he knew it - they were two sides to the same forces. If the bearer of good dreams were to die, then nightmares would reign over all; all living beings would refuse to sleep and then eventually die out. If the full moon were to disappear, the new moon would become obsolete. Because both of them existed, the world remained balanced.

But maybe that _wasn't_ the reason that Darkrai feared losing Cresselia. And the more he thought about it, the more confused he became.

Finally, with a groan, he pulled himself into a hover and headed out of his cave. Casting his gaze to the sky, relief washed over him when he realized that the moon was still in its first quarter, just as he'd remembered it being in the nightmare. That realization seemed to calm his heart a bit, but it didn't answer any of his questions. The only way he'd be able to straighten things out would be to talk to Cresselia.

Taking a few moments to steel himself and strengthen his resolve, Darkrai took off. Just like in the dream, he was searching for the moon - _his_ moon - but this time, he didn't have to search among a vast expanse of stars for it, because he knew exactly where it was this time.

He was now en route to Fullmoon Island.

* * *

O hai what's this? Usa's writing a... _chaptered_ fic? HOLY CRAP ALERT THE PRESSES. GET RIPLEY'S ON THE LINE!!11

Seriously, though. The idea for this fic popped into my head and now I can't quite unsee it. This will have three chapters, and these will finish off the fic challenge I've been doing all of these LunarEclipseshipping fics for. See my profile for more information.

Fun fact: Darkrai's nightmare in this chapter was inspired by a piece of fanart I found on a Japanese site. C:

I'm aiming to complete this fic before I leave for A-Kon next Friday. So you can expect the next chapter soon - possibly later today, provided that my writing drive is still in high gear like it was when I wrote this. :D

- Usagi


	2. Full Moon

_i have you in my dreams at night  
__you were holding my hands  
__then i awaken and you're not mine  
__now it's time to rise_

* * *

_She finds herself trapped within a dense fog: a cool and damp miasma so thick that it obscures her vision completely. She hasn't the slightest idea of where she might be, and considering that she can't even see a foot in front of her, it doesn't seem like she'll get an answer._

_Tick, tock, tick, tock._

_Caught off-guard by the sudden noise, she glances around the area in a vain attempt to uncover the source of it. It sounds... almost like a clock. But where is it coming from? Her curiosity gets the better of her, and she begins to hover around the area in search of it. Up, down, forward, backward - her senses are disrupted by the fog, and before long she isn't sure which way she's going anymore._

_However, the ticking increases in volume, which is a sure sign that she must be getting closer._

_Closing her eyes to ward off the condensation from the fog, she uses her sense of hearing to lead her toward the ticking noise. But without sight to guide her, she fails to notice the thinning of the fog around her, and only when she feels cold, crisp air graze across her body does she open her eyes._

_She takes a moment to survey her surroundings, and is startled to discover that the fog that had disoriented her so much wasn't a fog at all, but __**clouds**__. Below her, the white clouds stretch for miles in an expanse so massive that she is unable to tell exactly where they end. Above her is a star-filled sky and a moon so large and bright that she almost wonders if she could touch it._

_And in the distance, a large tower pokes out from the silver-topped clouds. Tick, tock._

_Tilting her head in inquiry, she hesitates for a moment before slowly beginning to fly toward the spire. She hadn't known that there was a tower nearby; her island was out in the middle of the ocean, so for all intents and purposes, there __**shouldn't**__ be. But there is, and it's piqued her curiosity._

_As she draws closer to it, she takes note of its design: it seems to be formed from ivory or some other kind of iridescent stone. The light from the moon reflects off of its surface and casts a gentle glow onto the surrounding clouds, perhaps with the slightest hint of color. She hovers near the base of it - or what she believes to be the base, as she doesn't even know if it continues beneath the clouds - and examines the windows dotting its surface. She is unable to see inside them; they appear to be constructed solely from mirrors arranged in a pattern reminiscent of stained glass._

_But the most notable aspect about the windows are the frames surrounding them; they seem to be made from pure silver that coils around in almost any pattern imaginable - flowers and vines, spirals, even the crescent moon shape that she is so attributed with._

_Tick, tock._

_Eventually, she tears her gaze away from the elaborate windows, now reminded of why she has come here: she has yet to find the source of the ticking she's heard this entire time. She gazes up at the sky for a couple of moments before spying some movement out of the corner of her eye. She turns to see what appears to be a staircase; it winds around the tower and appears to be made solely from crystal._

_Disregarding the fact that she lacks feet, she begins to climb the staircase - it's almost involuntary, as if something is pulling her up; something deep within the recesses of her heart compels her to ascend. And ascend she does._

_It feels like hours pass before she finally reaches the top, and not only is she stunned at what she finds, but she receives the answer to the question that's been plaguing her mind this entire time. The top of the tower is actually a gigantic clock with long, glowing hands. Whether they're glowing of their own accord or simply reflecting the moonlight above, she doesn't know; all she knows is that it is truly a sight to behold._

_But nothing prepares her for what she sees in the center of the clock._

_It's a shadowy figure about the same size as she is, and the power it radiates is incredibly dark, but at the same time, there's... something comforting about it. She knows what it is immediately; it's her counterpart, her shadow. She slowly levitates toward him and opens her mouth to say something, but is cut off by a gentle breeze that begins to waft through the area._

_Despite that the air atop the tower is cold, this breeze is warm and sweet-smelling. It picks up the extensions hanging from the shadow's shoulders, and he turns around to face her._

_When most people meet the eyes of the nightmare, they find terror running through their veins. Their eyes widen and they become petrified on the spot; their legs freeze up and their throats tighten, and they become unable to speak or breathe or scream--_

_But that doesn't happen when __**she**__ meets his eyes. Instead, she feels... sad. She isn't afraid of him, so she is able to look past the front he keeps up; deep in his eyes, she finds pain. Loneliness, rejection... and a desire for something that she can't quite put her finger on. _

_Something is different tonight, however. There's something else in his eyes this time, and she finds herself enthralled as she continues moving toward him. As the gap between them closes, he extends a clawed hand out to her. She reluctantly breaks her eyes away from his and looks down at the hand for a moment before reaching out to take it with her own small paw._

_Tick, tock, tick, tock._

_By now, she's completely forgotten about the clock, as he's reached out to take her other hand, drawing her close to him. She's started trying to decipher what she sees in his eyes again, and as a result, her heart starts to race. It's pounding so loudly that she's almost afraid that he can hear it; though, if he did, would it really be such a bad thing? The look in his eyes is so... __**peaceful**__ that it's almost as if he __**wants**__ to hear it._

_Her mind is purged of that thought as he lets go of one of her hands. He keeps the other one firmly gripped in his, and his long, spindly legs lower down to touch one of the long hands of the clock tower. The shadow begins to back out onto the clock's hand, urging her to follow. And follow him she does, circling around him as if they were dancing. He mimics her movements, slowly twirling around with her, and the warm breeze wraps around them both. She's the happiest that she's been in a long time - just being here with him, feeling his hand grasping hers... it makes her feel __**warm**__, and she dreads the moment that it will end._

_They continue to dance together atop the clock tower for what feels like an eternity, and even with the ever-present ticking, she loses track of the seconds going by. She is completely gone at this point; lost in his eyes, lost in her own heartbeat..._

_Eventually, they stop. She blinks at him curiously - that undeterminable look in his eyes is back, only this time, she is unable to tell what exactly lies behind them. And she doesn't need to tell what it is, because he does something that takes her mind off of it completely: he releases her hand, instead replacing his own on either side of the crescent adorning her head. Her eyes widen and she feels the blood rushing to her face; a surge of energy washes over as she realizes that he's drawing her close again._

_Beneath them, the clock hands keep on moving. He is no longer standing on them, and as she is pulled closer, the clock keeps ticking away; tick, tock._

_She closes her eyes, and just as she begins to feel his breath on her lips - a cold, ghostly whisper - the top of the hour strikes..._

The only reason she opened her eyes was because of the sudden droplet hitting her forehead.

Cresselia stirred, looking dreamily content for a couple of moments. But suddenly, like a flash of lightning, she came crashing back into reality and realized that she was _not_ dancing atop a clock tower with her counterpart; instead, she was lying in the same spot that she'd gone to sleep in.

She tried to ignore the slow sinking of her heart that the realization brought about, but considering how _real_ (and yet, at the same time, surreal) the dream had felt, that was much easier said than done. Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time she'd had that dream - she'd had it for the last few nights now, and every time, it had been slightly different: there was always the fog and the clock tower, but tonight's dream had been the first appearance of the crystal stairway. The night before had seen the onset of the mirrored windows. But every night it ended the same way: dancing atop the tower with Darkrai, and awakening just before...

Cresselia tightly squeezed her eyes shut in a desperate attempt to bring herself back to that moment. She _always_ awakened right before the distance between them fully closed, and that was probably the worst possible time for it to happen. She wouldn't have minded so much if she woke up any time before _that moment_, but no, it always had to be a "so close, yet so far" thing.

... And to be quite honest, it was weighing down on her heart more than she would've liked it to.

Opening her eyes again, she solemnly looked up toward the sky. She couldn't see the stars anymore; they were now hidden between a layer of dark clouds, and the half-moon that had been hanging in the sky before also failed to cast its light upon her. She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and pulled herself into a hover, heading out of the central clearing of her island. As she drew further away from that spot, she could feel that crushing feeling in her heart become more and more intense.

After several moments, Cresselia emerged out onto the beach. She couldn't see very far out into the ocean, as the dark clouds looming overhead were obscuring the horizon from view. There were flashes of lightning in the distance, and it seemed like it was only moments away from a downpour.

True to her prediction, the raindrops began to fall at a surprisingly sudden rate. She didn't really care, though. Even though she flinched and squirmed about at the rumbles of thunder, any fear she might have felt was overtaken by the emotional pain she found herself harboring. And at least the rain mixed in with the tears that were now falling from her eyes.

Why was she continuing to have this dream? She was supposed to be the goddess of good dreams, and yet, she was _suffering_ because of this. Every dream of hers was so wonderful that she never wanted to awaken from them, this one in particular, and whenever she did, it just _hurt_. At this point, she would rather forgo sleep altogether and not dream at all, instead of seeing this vision in her head over and over and having to awaken from it. A preferable option would be to make the dream a _reality_, but in her mind, the chances of that happening were slimmer than the chances of contracting Pokérus.

She hung her head and let the tears flow freely, almost crushed by the idea. There was a part of her - a very small part that she'd only discovered because of the repeated occurrences of this dream - that desperately wanted all of those things to happen. She wanted Darkrai to take her hands and dance with her; she wanted to find all of the hurt and solitude in his heart and dry it up completely; his pain hurt her as well, so she wanted to relieve them _both_ of it...

But it was an empty wish. They were opposites, and there was no way he would accept such a thing, especially from her. And that thought made her body quiver with sobs, so much that her hover ceased and she fell down to the wet sands below. She couldn't tell her own tears from the raindrops anymore, though at this point she didn't care anymore. The only thing she wanted was to see her counterpart - her shadow - and take away any pain that he might feel. She wanted to let him know that he wasn't as alone as he might think he was, because _she_ was there for him. She wanted to dance with him...

By this time, she was so absorbed in her misery and doubt and _longing_ that she barely even noticed the rain or the thunder or the lightning, nor did she notice the shadow approaching her until it called her name.

"...Cresselia?"


	3. Eclipse

If there was one thing that Cresselia wasn't expecting, it was the appearance of her counterpart. No matter how much she may have _wanted_ him to show up at that moment, she was still completely caught off-guard when she looked up to find him hovering a few feet away from her, a puzzled expression on his face.

"D-Darkrai..." She hoped that her tears weren't too audible in her voice as she shook her head and picked herself up, slowly resuming her hover. "What are you doing here...?"

Darkrai reached up to rub at the back of his neck. "I could ask you the same thing; you shouldn't be out here in this storm."

She blinked at him in response. He wasn't _concerned_ about her, was he? Promptly putting that thought out of her head - he was probably just pointing out her lack of common sense - Cresselia fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment before answering him. "Uhm... well..." She didn't get much else out, however; a sudden clap of thunder tore through the sky and she yelped, curling herself up the best that she could while still maintaining her hover. She was unable to speak for a few moments after the fact: she may not have been scared of Darkrai, but because of her timid nature, she definitely hated loud noises, including thunder. It was as if her voice had flat-out died on her. "I-I..."

Darkrai took notice of her fear - was she _shaking?_ - and hesitantly moved closer to her. "Hey..." When she failed to respond, he reached out and took hold of one of her paws. "Come on. Let's find some shelter."

Nervously peeking up at him as he took her by the hand, she gave a silent nod and followed after him as he started to pull her along. He led her through the forest, and while his grip on her paw wasn't exactly gentle, he clutched it with a firmness that piqued Cresselia's curiosity.

He was just leading her along, right? There couldn't have been any other reasons for holding her hand like that, right? That was all; it was completely innocent, there was no need to read into it too much. It was never good for one to get their hopes up. But still, there was something in the deepest recesses of her heart that wished there were something else compelling him to do this for her--

Another rumble of thunder, and she squeaked and grasped his hand with both of her paws, losing her train of thought completely.

His hover paused, and he turned around to look at her. "Cresselia?"

Her eyes were tightly squeezed shut, and she was shivering as if she'd just been hit with an Icy Wind attack.

Darkrai eyed her for a few moments before heaving a sigh. The Lunar Pokémon looked so pitiful at the moment that somehow, it brought back images of the nightmare he'd had earlier that night: she was falling, _falling_, descending into darkness, and he could do so little to save her... and by letting her fear of the storm paralyze her now, it was if she were falling yet again.

Something was different this time, though; this time, he actually had the power to 'save' her, or at least soothe her anxiety.

Through the treetops, a flash of lightning could be seen illuminating the sky, and... maybe it was just a raindrop, but for a moment he could've swore that he saw tears in her eyes. But whatever it was, it made something well up inside of him - that same urge to protect that he'd felt during his nightmare was overcoming him now, and before he could stop himself, he moved forward and placed his free hand beneath her chin.

"...Cresselia."

She briefly tensed up, the sudden touch startling her. It took her a moment, but she eventually pried her eyes open enough to look at him, and she let out a short gasp upon seeing that his one visible eye was staring straight into hers - just like in her dream. Again, just like in her dream, she could something within the cyan depths that she couldn't quite decipher, though that _something_ became quite apparent with his next words.

"Don't be afraid. I won't... let anything happen to you."

Cresselia was at a loss for words. The sound of the rain, the deafening thunder, the flashes of lightning - all of them went forgotten as her eyes locked onto his; the burning gaze was intense and as cold as ice, yet somehow, it caused some kind of warmth to stir inside of her. Said warmth had rendered her speechless, so she simply nodded in response and averted her gaze, a light blush forming on her face.

"Now come on," Darkrai said quietly, releasing her from his grasp. "Your cave's around here somewhere, isn't it? You know this island better than--"

He was cut off by a loud crashing noise and what sounded like the splintering of wood. Had a tree been hit by lightning? Either way, staying there was a bad idea, and he wanted to find shelter as soon as possible, for Cresselia's sake as well as his own. "...you'd better lead the way."

She hadn't quite recovered from the shock of his affirmation yet, so all she could do was nod in response and take the lead, hovering through the woods again. _Quickly_ - the sooner they got out of that storm, the better; at this point her nerves were completely shot.

Eventually, they broke through into the clearing that she tended to spend most of her time in. Cresselia paused to glance at the crescent-shaped pond in the middle: instead of reflecting the moonlight above as it usually did, it was greyed over because of the dark clouds overhead. She frowned upon seeing that the heavy rain had caused the puddle to grow in size so that the shape was now obscured and unrecognizable.

And somewhere in her mind, she couldn't help but wonder if it was a parallel to the state of her heart at the time. Cloaked in shadow and overflowing with emotion...

Cresselia shook the thought out of her head. She really needed to get her priorities straight; she could consider that once they were in a drier area. So she continued on past the clearing, her small cave finally coming into view.

Once inside, she shuddered vigorously in an attempt to shake off all of the water off of her body. That was probably as dry as she was going to get. But now that she actually lacked the distraction of the rain and thunder, there was room for other things to weigh on her mind. Namely the fact that her counterpart was there with her, and considering what had just happened between them, along with the dream she'd had...

It was a little _awkward_.

She tried not to let her anxiety show too much as she floated over to a pile of soft grasses that lay on the ground; she slowly lowered herself down onto it, letting out a sigh before looking over at Darkrai.

The Pitch-Black Pokémon was still dripping water as he leaned against a wall near the entrance of the cave. His arms were crossed as he gazed out into the stormy night outside, seemingly transfixed on the lightning branching itself through the sky. His comforting demeanor from earlier seemed to have faded, and it made her wonder: had she done something wrong? It was hard to tell what did and didn't anger him, and her nervousness was making her paranoid.

A few minutes of silence passed before she finally managed to speak.

"...you don't have to stay over there by yourself. You can come over here... I mean, it's drier..."

His response was so quiet that she almost didn't hear it over the rain: "I'm fine by myself."

Cresselia tilted her head in confusion. "Are you sure...? You'll get sick if you don't get dried off."

After a moment of consideration, Darkrai sighed and let his arms fall to his sides, turning to glance at her over his shoulder. There was a look of concern on her face, and there was something strange reflected in her eyes; it was unusual and not unlike what he'd seen in his nightmare. She was worried about him? He thought it would've been more appropriate for it to be the other way around - the images of falling were still clearly visible in his mind - but then again, Cresselia worried about _everyone_. He supposed he wasn't any different.

He turned around to face her fully. "Do you want me to?"

She blinked in response, caught off-guard by his question. "What...?"

"Do you _want_ me to come over there?"

Her face flushed again and she bashfully looked down at the ground, twiddling her paws a bit. Without looking up at him, she nodded, perhaps a bit more than necessary.

Darkrai wasn't surprised. It _was_ still thundering quite a bit, and if it would help to ease her apprehension, then...

He have a slight shrug and shook himself off a bit before floating over to where she was resting, lowering himself down to the grasses next to her. He crossed his arms again, resuming his oh-so-exciting task of brooding and staring out into the night.

This... was kind of uncomfortable. It wouldn't be so much if there weren't so many things he wanted to ask her - and likewise, if he hadn't had that nightmare - but at the moment, he didn't want to place even more pressure on her by doing so. The tension in the air was thick and heavy with stress, and it didn't really help that she was sitting awfully close to him. Had she moved closer to him, or had he sat down that close to her to begin with? Regardless, this was an incredibly unfamiliar situation he was in, and he wasn't sure what to say. But luckily, he didn't have to say _anything_.

"Darkrai?"

He peered at her from the corner of his eye. "Yes?"

"...Darkrai."

"Yes?" he repeated, this time turning his head to look at her. "What is it, Cresselia?"

She was fidgeting a bit, appearing as if she wanted to say something. She opened her mouth a few times in some sort of silent stammer before taking a deep breath. "Darkrai," she started, "can I... ask you something...?"

If he had visible eyebrows, he would've raised one of them at her. Instead, he simply eyed her for a moment before nodding, his gaze moving down to the ground. "Go ahead."

"D-do you..." Well, now that she'd started speaking, she suddenly blanked. Or at least that's what she was assuming had happened; she wasn't about to chalk it up to losing her _will_ to ask him what she wanted to. "Uhm... what do you dream about?" Cresselia mentally smacked herself. That wasn't what she'd meant to say at all! But it was too late now; like always, her nerves prevented her from voicing exactly what was on her mind. At least she'd managed to say something at all this time, though.

Darkrai, on the other hand, was completely taken aback by her inquiry. It took a moment for the gravity of the question to hit him, and when it did, he averted his eyes - his face felt quite warm all of a sudden. "... Why do you ask?" Surely she didn't _know_ about his nightmare, did she? She could see the dreams of any being she wanted too, so did that mean she could see _his_, too?

Blushing faintly herself, she craned her neck over in an attempt to look him in the eyes. "...curiosity," she replied quietly. "You're the one who creates nightmares, so... do you have them, yourself?" That seemed like good enough reasoning...

"...using that logic, I could ask the same thing of you, _dream-maker_."

"Yes, but I asked first. So you answer first."

"... Fine," Darkrai answered after a few long moments of deliberation. "I dream... of falling. The purest beings descend into darkness, whether it is by my hand or not, and there is... immeasurable fear. It's inconceivable, even to beings such as myself, who are so adept at _causing_ fear in others." When in doubt, it helped to be vague.

Luckily for him, Cresselia seemed to buy it. "...that's sad," she mused somberly. "Well, maybe not to you, but... it is to me."

"I expected nothing less." He briefly glanced over at his companion before heaving a sigh, casting his eyes back out to the darkness outside. "But there you have it. Now it's your turn. What lies in _your_ dreams?"

Her blush intensified, and she quickly turned away from him. "... Dancing," she replied, "dancing beneath the moon. I dance for so long that I lose track of time, and before I know it, I'm waking up to the sight of this, or my pond, or..." Her focus shifted down to the ground. "...it's a little depressing."

He finally looked over at her again, quite curious about her last words. Against his better judgement - she really _did_ look kind of upset - he pressed the matter. "Depressing? How so?"

Cresselia's heart was starting to pound now. She hadn't anticipated the conversation taking a turn in this direction, but in retrospect, it wasn't all that surprising; now she could barely remember what she'd originally meant to say when she initially broke the silence between them. What could she say now? What could _possibly_ be depressing about dancing under the moonlight, except for...

"...I don't... I don't dance alone, Darkrai." She looked up at him only for a moment, cheeks now stained a bright pink. "In my dreams, I..."

He nodded at her, urging her to continue. His own heart was starting to race for some reason that he couldn't quite place...

She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. It felt like her words were trying to leave her again; her throat was closing up and it felt as if she were on fire and she was almost positive that he could hear her heartbeat by now-- _no_. Cresselia couldn't let herself back out now, she'd already come too far. She had long since passed the point of no return, so she might as well buck up.

"In my dreams, I-I'm dancing with _you_."

Silence.

Darkrai simply stared at her for several long moments upon hearing her confession. "...I see," he finally whispered, suddenly finding the ground incredibly interesting.

So, she dreamed of dancing with him. And awakening from these dreams made her unhappy. Either she was making things up - why would she possibly _enjoy_ a thing like that - or there was something she wasn't telling him. "Well... as long as we're having this ­_heart-to-heart_, let's say... in my dreams, I see _you_ falling into darkness. As for the fear? That all-encompassing fear that paralyzes you from head to toe?"

She was looking up at him now, her eyes wide and face flushed.

"That fear belongs to _me_."

The thunder outside was still rumbling like an earthquake in the sky, but it didn't register in either of their minds - they were both completely preoccupied by the situation at hand.

It seemed like an eternity before Cresselia finally spoke up again. "B-but... what does this mean?" She almost had to _choke_ her words out. "I've had this dream for the last few nights, and every time I awaken from them, it feels... more and more painful. I just..." Her eyes were starting to tear up again. It was as if all of the emotions in her heart were threatening to overflow, just like her pond had. "...every time I look you in the eye, I see pain. Not only that, but... loneliness, and insult, and..."

She didn't even notice that her tears were falling to the grass below, or that he was staring at her again. "Knowing you have that hidden inside of you hurts _me_ too, Darkrai. I don't... want you to feel that way; I want to _take away_ that pain that you feel. I don't want you to feel lonely, because you're _not_ alone. _I'm_ here. I..."

Her voice finally gave out, so she just settled for staring at the floor, allowing her tears to fall freely.

Needless to say, Darkrai was totally blown away by her catharsis. She really felt like that about him? All of a sudden, the meaning behind his nightmare became all too apparent to him. He may have been the god of nightmares and darkness and terror - the master of everything horrible and frightening and wrong - and yet...

She didn't seem to care. It didn't seem to matter to her that he was _supposed_ to strike fear into others and be hated because of it, or that he was the direct opposite of her. But then, she never liked seeing _anyone_ in pain, so it never hurt to double-check. "You... what are you saying, Cresselia?"

Finally, she lifted her head to look at him. She was still crying, but now she was looking him right in the eyes. "You're... you may be a being of darkness, but I know there's light inside of you. There's light inside of _everyone_. It's just harder to see in some than it is in others, but... I see it in you..."

Now he was completely torn. On one hand, he didn't believe her for a second; surely, a being like himself couldn't have a shred of 'light' inside of his heart. No decent _thing_ inflicted pain and suffering on others. But on the other hand... she accepted him in spite of it. What to do...

Darkrai turned away from her, his doubt triumphing over his hope. "...I don't know what you're seeing in me, but it isn't 'light'. I'm a monster, Cresselia. I'd just... I'd ruin someone like you."

"No..." She shook her head and tried to meet his eyes again. "You don't think that... changes my feelings, do you? You're my opposite. The new moon to my full moon. You wouldn't... _ruin_ me, you'd _complete_ me. And I... if you don't want to see the light inside of you, then..."

Cresselia sniffled and leaned forward, her forehead resting against his shoulder. "Then let _me_ be your light..."

Now he was the one at a loss for words. Why did she care so much? _How_ could she care so much? A myriad of questions and thoughts were running through his mind at this point, though before long, one of them made itself crystal clear: he was afraid of losing her because she, unlike any other being that he knew of, accepted him unconditionally. She didn't care that he _was_ the darkness; she still saw his pain and sought to relieve it, and he knew that he would never come across a being who wanted that in this lifetime, or possibly any other ones he might live through.

"Cresselia..."

He backed away from her - only enough so that he could turn around to face her - and reached up to place his hands on either side of the crescent adorning her head. Doing so forced her to meet his eyes again, and he gazed into them with such an intensity that he couldn't even tell what it was. Whatever it was, it made him feel warm and... oddly complete. Before, he'd felt so empty, but now...

Brushing her tears away with one clawed hand, he lifted his head so that his rarely-seen mouth and chin were visible. And before he could stop himself - or perhaps he didn't even _want_ to - he leaned forward and brushed his lips against her forehead in as much of a comforting gesture as he could muster up.

Her eyes widened at the sudden contact, but any surprise completely dissolved as she felt a kind of warmth rapidly spreading throughout her body. It was as if her heart had exploded and all of her sadness and fear and worry was drying up, and happiness was beginning to take its place. "Darkrai...?"

Wordlessly, he drew her into his arms, if only so she wouldn't see that his own face was quite flushed. It took him a few moments to work up the nerve to speak again, but once he did, his voice was soft. "...thank you. There was... always a moon in my dark sky, even if I couldn't see it."

Cresselia just smiled and snuggled into his embrace, her eyes now filled with happy tears. Only when she grew quite comfortable in his arms, did she realize how tired she was - she'd awakened from her dream only a few hours after falling asleep. "Will you... stay with me tonight?"

He answered the same way as he'd answered her earlier request: "Do you want me to?"

She pulled back to look at him. "...yes," she answered, "please."

Darkrai nodded and turned so that he was leaning against the wall, tugging her head down to rest in his lap. "Of course. Whatever you want." His fingers had began to affectionately stroke her head when a thought suddenly struck him. "...you won't have nightmares, will you?"

The Lunar Pokémon let out a chuckle and shifted a bit, making herself cozy in the new position. "...no, I think I'll have happy dreams for once."

And outside, the storm clouds were starting to give way to the earliest signs of dawn.

_when you're inflicted by  
__the passion of love  
__desire and yearning  
__the deeper they burn_

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**: SO THERE YOU GO. I had all kinds of problems getting this chapter out - I think my brain was broken from coughing up three 2000-word ficlets in the span of three days - but I managed to work through it and finish this up before the deadline I'd set for myself. :D

The quotes at the beginning and end of the chapters, as well as the title of this fic, are from the song "Reverie" by Lacuna Coil. That does _not _make it a songfic by any stretch of the imagination - I just thought the quotes would add a bit more meaning to the fic; a little more 'oomph', if you will. Also, a few quotes in this chapter were taken from an RP done with a friend.

This final chapter finishes off the 10 Hurt/Comfort Challenge that all of my LunarEclipseshipping fics have been for, but that doesn't mean I'm done writing the pairing at all! I've actually got some ideas in the works for a _much _longer fic, though LEshipping won't be the main pairing in it. It'll still be there though, so there's no need to worry. ;D

I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. Even with all of the trouble I might've had, I still had a blast. :3

Usagi, over and out.


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